The
22nd session of the UNEP Governing Council and fourth Global Ministerial
Environment Forum (GMEF) opened on Monday morning, 3 February, at UNEP
headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Following the opening speeches, election
of officers and adoption of the agenda, delegates reconvened in Plenary
in the afternoon to consider the state of the environment and emerging
policy issues. A Committee of the Whole also met in the afternoon to
take up agenda items on the role of civil society, international environmental
governance (IEG), UNEP's programme, and administrative and budgetary
matters.

UNEP
Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel delivered a message from
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The message highlighted the significance
of this Governing Council session, which is taking place five months after
the WSSD. He stressed UNEP's critical role in developing a programme that
contributes to implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD)

UNEP
Executive Director Klaus Töpfer said
the Governing Council has an opportunity to strengthen the achievement
of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. He stressed
that the Governing Council should aim to implement the WSSD's Plan of
Implementation by advising UNEP on implementing the 10-year programme
for sustainable consumption and production, improving capacity building,
monitoring and assessing global environmental change, promoting the
use of new technologies, and ensuring that trade and environment policies
are consistent and mutually supportive.

David
Anderson, Canada's Environment Minister and the Governing Council's outgoing
President, outlined
achievements during his tenure, including the completion of the first
global mercury assessment, the Great Apes Survival Project, the adoption
of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and the
release of the third Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-3) report in 2002.
He also reported on efforts to improve international governance, and took
note of increased financial support for UNEP from a number of governments.

Arthur Chaskalson, Chief Justice
of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, reported on the recent Ad
Hoc Meeting of Judges for the Development of a Plan of Work, organized
as a follow-up to the Global Judges Symposium held prior to the WSSD.
Observing that environmental management involves a chain of actors including
the judiciary, he said the manner in which judges discharge their responsibilities
influences attitudes and the enforcement of laws. He outlined the results
of recent meetings aimed at increasing judicial capacity building, and
reviewed plans to facilitate the further exchange of views and guidance
through UNEP.
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2 of speech

Newton
Kulundu, Kenya's Minister of the Environment,
highlighted domestic policy initiatives of the new government and voiced
support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). He commended
UNEP's focus on poverty eradication and its cooperation with the UNDP
Drylands Development Center and with the UN Human Settlements Programme
(UN-HABITAT). He supported the establishment of a trust fund for the management
of environment emergencies and urged the timely payment of pledges to
the Environmental Fund based on the voluntary indicative scale.

Klaus
Töpfer speaks with the delegate from Senegal (left) and Kenyan Environment
Minister Newton Kulundu
is greeted by delegates (right)

Watching
an audio-visual presentation, which stressed that, in spite of the many
challenges, action to protect our environment can be successful

Kenyan
Environment Minister Newton
Kulundu shakes the hand of outgoing GC President David Anderson
(left) and David Anderson greets new GC President Ruhakana Rugunda, Minister
of Water, Lands and Environment of Uganda (right)

Governing
Council President Ruhakana Rugunda, Minister of Water, Lands and Environment
of Uganda

Morocco,
on behalf of the G-77/China, underscored UNEP's role in implementing
the environmental aspects of WSSD outcomes, and said civil society's participation
in UNEP should be encouraged. He called on donor countries to reverse the
decline in ODA and meet their commitments on capacity building and technology
transfer. He supported strengthening UNEP's work promoting sustainable consumption
and production patterns, and drew attention to UNEP's report on the environmental
situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Greece,
on behalf of the EU,
said UNEP has an important role in implementing the environmental dimensions
of sustainable development and underlined the link between poverty and the
environment. He highlighted urgent issues to be addressed by the Governing
Council, including: sustainable consumption and production; global mercury
assessment; a strategic approach to the management of chemicals; IEG, with
increased participation of civil society; biodiversity loss; marine transport
of hazardous substances; and the regional implementation of WSSD outcomes.

Vice-President
Václav Hubinger (Czech Republic) is elected Rapporteur for the
meeting (left) and with Ambassador Finn Thilsted, Danish Embassy

Afternoon
Plenary: Policy Issues

State
of the Environment and Emerging Policy Issues: Executive Director Töpfer
highlighted UNEP's environmental assessment and early warning activities,
which he described as the "cornerstone of all our work."

Delegates
were briefed on the state of the environment by a UNEP representative, who
highlighted problems in many areas, including water policy, food security,
land degradation, biodiversity, climate change, and the marine environment.

On
the Environmental Initiative of NEPAD, Grace Akumu, Climate
Network Africa, speaking on behalf of African Civil Society, argued
that the principles of the Framework are not sufficiently specific, and
highlighted inadequate participation of civil society in the process.

Victor
Hugo, Center for Human Rights and Environment, Cordoba, Argentina, speaking
on behalf of the Global Civil Society Forum, expressed concern that
UNEP is "lagging behind" in its relationships with civil society.
He welcomed UNEP's strategic paper on civil society involvement, endorsed
the prompt creation of a civil society advisory panel to UNEP's Executive
Director, and proposed a UNEP initiative on cultural and biological diversity
in partnership with other institutions.

R.K.
Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
outlined the results of the IPCC's Third Assessment Report and the predicted
effects of climate change on agriculture, health, water resources, coastal
areas, biodiversity, fisheries, food production, and hydropower generation.
He highlighted the environmental and economic
benefits of regional assessments, mitigation strategies, and climate change
policy making.

Pakistan
emphasized its strong commitment to addressing domestic environmental
problems, but argued that efforts are offset by a lack of resources and
low technical capacity.

Ethiopia highlighted
the need for effective biosafety frameworks and for defining access and
benefit sharing from genetic resources, and argued that a voluntary system
was inadequate.

Committee
of the Whole

COW Chair and GC
Vice-President Tanya Van Gool (Netherlands) and UNEP Deputy Executive Director
Shafqat Kakakhel (above) introduced the organization of work, outlining
issues relating to: the UNEP Programme, Environment Fund, and administrative
and other budgetary matters; follow-up of UNGA resolutions; and UNEP's contribution
to future sessions of the CSD. Noting the limited time allocated for budgetary
discussions, several delegates requested that a contact group be formed.

CPR
Chair Juergen Weerth (Germany) presented the draft decisions prepared
by the CPR pursuant to the mandate established by the Governing Council
(UNEP/GC.22/L/1). He noted that the document covered 30 subject areas, and
that the CPR had reached agreement on 21 of these. He said divergent views
remained on amending Rule 69 of the Council's Rules of Procedure on civil
society participation.

Syria
said that the report on the
environmental situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories went beyond
the mandate of the UNEP desk study team, and requested redrafting the
document and deleting specific paragraphs which refer to Israel's role
vis-à-vis regional environmental cooperation, particularly regarding
desertification (UNEP/GC.22/2/Add.6). Kakakhel replied that the Council
President Rugunda will hold consultations to address the issue.

Press
Conference on the Global Mercury Assessment

Jim
Willis, UNEP Chemicals, Klaus Töpfer, Governing Council President,
outgoing Governing Council President David Anderson, discuss the new report
released by UNEP, which states, among other things, that mercury poisoning
of the planet could be significantly reduced by curbing pollution by power
stations

Panel
Discussion on Rio Principle 10: Public Access to Information, Participation
in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

A
panel discussion on Principle 10: Public Access to Information, Participation
in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was
held Monday from 1:15 to 3:00. Co-convened by Environment Liaison Centre
International and the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the panel included three
civil society representatives (Victor Ricco from Argentina, Godber Tumushabe
from Uganda, and Victoria Elias from Russia), the Aarhus Secretariat (Jeremy
Wates), UNEP (Bakary Kante), and Arte Fretheim of the the Government of
Norway. Panelists described the enduring aspects of Principle 10, ten
years after its elaboration, and measures to implement it in different
regions. In addition, two speakers (Hossein Fadai and Davinder Lambda)
addressed the linkages between human rights and environmental rights,
and the potentially powerful role of environmental rights in sustainable
development. Mr. Stein of Australia described the positive outcome of
increased access to justice in environmental matters for New South Wales.
Representatives of two economic commissions (ESCAP and ECLAC) also reported
on implementation of Principle 10 in their regions. General support for
the draft decision on global guidelines to Principle 10 was widely expressed,
as a means of providing stimulus to national initiatives.

Miscellaneous
Photos

The
launch of and switching on of light boxes containing a new biodiversity
display - UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center